´óÏó´«Ã½

Us gardeners are a determined lot though and we've found ways of controlling these wayward types bringing their flowering down nearer to the ground. We prune clematis and roses, provide support in the form of trellis and of course we've bred and changed the colours and habits of their wild cousins to tame them for our gardens. A much easier prospect is to grow tender perennial climbers from seed as annuals, gaining a summer treat of inexpensive yet exotic blooms, they make lovely pot plants and perk up container displays when twinned with bedding plants or overflowing from hanging baskets. A riot of vibrant colour, shades of blue, purple, orange and yellow from Morning glory Ipomea tricolor, Purple bellerine Rhodochiton atrosanguineus, Spanish flag Ipomea lobata and Black-eyed Susan Thunbergia elata. Canes and other support can look ugly though so my challenge was this, how to provide them with something to climb up that in itself is attractive before the baby climbers have grown up.

A sculptural random weave, attractive even before the lovely climbers start to grow.

The solution was one of those happy accidents that occurred while I was walking in the park and passing the gardeners’ compost heaps - I noticed a pile of brightly coloured stems lying discarded amonst the decaying piles of leaves. Hmm, I thought, I know what I can use those for... I pulled out a bundle ofÌý lime green and dark ruby red stems of cornus, the vivid colours preserved in the damp of the compost heap and they would clean up nicely. Perhaps delving in compost heaps is taking ‘skip surfing ‘ to extremes I know, but here was something useful going to waste that I was about to recycle and turn into something beautiful and decorative ... trust me, read on, it works!

I found a couple of glazed pots, simple in shape and classic in design, cheap and cheerful and twinned them with the lime green and red cornus sticks, packs of seeds to sow, the project was coming together - bit of help from the cat....and some weaving magic, hey presto a ‘random’ weave creation for my seedlings!

Materials

Step One: insert rods in groups of three into a plant pot filled with potting compost

• Secateurs
• Garden twine
• 9 straight and flexible rods of coloured willow or cornus, 1.5m long
• Slender flexible twigs for tying the top
• Attractive glazed pot filled with compost, 20-30cm diameter

Step one

• Insert rods in groups of three into a plant pot filled with potting compost
• Loosely plait each group of three to the tips and secure with twine

Step 2

• Craft random weaving of twiggy side shoots

Step 3

Right: Bind the rod securely | Left: Securing the top

• Hold a flexible thin rod against the tied in rods
• Insert a piece of rod as a 'spacer'
• Wind the first thin rod down and back on itself securing and binding the top
• Push the end back up and through where the spacer rod is, removing it and leaving the binding rod secured tightly.

Sally Smith is an organic gardening teacher now working freelance after working at for many years and heading their advisory team. Weaving living willow structures and basket making is a passion and skill that Sally brings to her gardening.